WAG How to fix a high bhs

[gymnastics<3]

My ro bhs bt used to be decently fast and powerful, put recently every time I try to do it my bhs is really high so I don’t get any power to do my back tuck. I’ve noticed my standing bhs is really high as well and I don’t get any power out of it at all. I jump, spend too long in the air, and then my feet come down right after my hands. I’m not sure if it’s undercut but it’s pretty short. Does anyone know how to fix this??

 

[gympoppop]

There are several potential causes of this but one of the most common is throwing the head back (or leaning forward) which causes the hips to thrust forward at takeoff and results in and undercut. If you are training ro-bhs-bt you should be able to do a bhs with minimal or no arm swing. I would suggest doing them (spotted) with no arm swing/arms by the ears and focus on looking back with your eyes and not your head. And remember, you should feel like you are falling down backwards in a chair right before you jump.

BHS is intended to maximize horizontal velocity so you want as long and low as possible. It is helpful to keep the correct shapes in mind. It is a rainbow in an arch position, to handstand, and then a block of shoulders to a rainbow tight hollow (no pike down). If going into a back tuck you also need to land with your feet behind you to get a proper high vertical set.

One last thing I’ll mention that helped my daughter lengthen her bhs is to have contests with herself to see how far she could land away from her starting position and then try to break it next time. You should be able to get past a full body length (toes to tips if fingers) if using proper form with a good block.

 

[Deleted member 26368]

There are several potential causes of this but one of the most common is throwing the head back (or leaning forward) which causes the hips to thrust forward at takeoff and results in and undercut. If you are training ro-bhs-bt you should be able to do a bhs with minimal or no arm swing. I would suggest doing them (spotted) with no arm swing/arms by the ears and focus on looking back with your eyes and not your head. And remember, you should feel like you are falling down backwards in a chair right before you jump.

BHS is intended to maximize horizontal velocity so you want as long and low as possible. It is helpful to keep the correct shapes in mind. It is a rainbow in an arch position, to handstand, and then a block of shoulders to a rainbow tight hollow (no pike down). If going into a back tuck you also need to land with your feet behind you to get a proper high vertical set.

One last thing I’ll mention that helped my daughter lengthen her bhs is to have contests with herself to see how far she could land away from her starting position and then try to break it next time. You should be able to get past a full body length (toes to tips if fingers) if using proper form with a good block.

I'm not the OP, but wow, excellent explanation of BHS shapes! So helpful!

 

[gympoppop]

I'm not the OP, but wow, excellent explanation of BHS shapes! So helpful!

I'm happy it was helpful! A few more thoughts for the OP about this issue.

First, I wanted to plug Geoffrey Taucer's excellent video from his BHS clinic at Woodward. It provides a great explanation of the proper BHS shapes and drills.

Second, I am guessing that you may be working on BHS on beam given that you are doing a BT on floor. Since you want to undercut a beam BHS, it may be that practicing that has impacted your floor BHS. Maybe some other gymnasts or coaches could chime in with how to not let one affect the other.

Last, I thought of an analogy for what it should feel like when "falling back" during the takeoff of the BHS. This action gets the center of mass behind the feet and is essential to execute a long BHS (see above video). Have you ever had anyone play the trick where they pull your chair away but you catch yourself and instead of hitting the floor you pop up at the last second? Well, that is the feeling of a proper BHS takeoff. Right when you would pop up to not fall down, you instead jump back in a tight arch into your handstand.

 

[LucyRobinson]

My back handspring got higher and shorter during a growth spurt. It took some trial and error to get my tumbling to feel how it did regularly, but I did figure it out. This could be a possible cause.

The reason why my handspring was high was because I was not getting my feet under myself on the roundoff. I was bending my knees and squatting in the handspring.

Try to think of BHS stepout on beam and BHS on floor as different skills. A beam back handspring is really a jump to handstand step down. Much higher and shorter.

 

[gymnastics<3]

I'm happy it was helpful! A few more thoughts for the OP about this issue.

First, I wanted to plug Geoffrey Taucer's excellent video from his BHS clinic at Woodward. It provides a great explanation of the proper BHS shapes and drills.

Second, I am guessing that you may be working on BHS on beam given that you are doing a BT on floor. Since you want to undercut a beam BHS, it may be that practicing that has impacted your floor BHS. Maybe some other gymnasts or coaches could chime in with how to not let one affect the other.

Last, I thought of an analogy for what it should feel like when "falling back" during the takeoff of the BHS. This action gets the center of mass behind the feet and is essential to execute a long BHS (see above video). Have you ever had anyone play the trick where they pull your chair away but you catch yourself and instead of hitting the floor you pop up at the last second? Well, that is the feeling of a proper BHS takeoff. Right when you would pop up to not fall down, you instead jump back in a tight arch into your handstand.

Thank you so much! I found that video very helpful… the takeoff shape/timing makes a lot more sense to me now.

 

[gympoppop]

Thanks to @Geoffrey Taucer for making it!

 

[caitydid]

There are several potential causes of this but one of the most common is throwing the head back (or leaning forward) which causes the hips to thrust forward at takeoff and results in and undercut. If you are training ro-bhs-bt you should be able to do a bhs with minimal or no arm swing. I would suggest doing them (spotted) with no arm swing/arms by the ears and focus on looking back with your eyes and not your head. And remember, you should feel like you are falling down backwards in a chair right before you jump.

BHS is intended to maximize horizontal velocity so you want as long and low as possible. It is helpful to keep the correct shapes in mind. It is a rainbow in an arch position, to handstand, and then a block of shoulders to a rainbow tight hollow (no pike down). If going into a back tuck you also need to land with your feet behind you to get a proper high vertical set.

One last thing I’ll mention that helped my daughter lengthen her bhs is to have contests with herself to see how far she could land away from her starting position and then try to break it next time. You should be able to get past a full body length (toes to tips if fingers) if using proper form with a good block.

Thank you for the explanation. I was reading this post because my daughter has the same issue with her BHS and you gave great advice.